Plenkovic: Peljesac Bridge will ensure Croatia's territorial connectivity forever

PM Andrej Plenkovic has said that the Peljesac Bridge, a strategically important investment of his government, is taking shape and will once and for all resolve the question of Croatia's territorial connectivity, while work on it may take a couple of months more than planned due to the coronavirus crisis.

At the Peljesac Bridge the superstructure installation has begun. Around 600 workers are at the construction site, and an additional 200 are working on access roads. For now, everything is proceeding as planned. The Croatian Roads company (HC) has said that it is prepared for any scenario. If the roads are not finished until 31 July 2021, the bridge will nonetheless be connected to the mainland.

Touring the construction site on Monday afternoon, Prime Minister Plenkovic assessed that the deadline for the completion of the bridge could be extended by two to three months due to the coronavirus crisis.

"The deadline was 31 July 2021, however, due to the coronavirus and the fact that our experts were unable to travel to China and see the way certain bridge segments and elements were manufactured, the date might be extended by two to three months," Plenkovic said as he toured the construction site.

Plenkovic added that representatives of the CRCB, the Chinese company working on the bridge, were ready to put in additional effort, and that on the political level a request could also be made to speed up the process.

The PM pointed out that work on access roads being built by the Strabag construction company was going well and within the deadlines, while work on access roads to be built by the Greek Avax construction company was somewhat late in starting but would be launched over the next month.

Plenkovic emphasised that the Peljesac Bridge, a project worth €520 million, was one of the most important and strategically most significant infrastructure investments which had started to slowly take shape during his government's term, and that the goal was to complete it.

"This project will once and for all solve the question of Croatia's territorial connectivity, and for all of us, especially for our friends from Dubrovnik-Neretva County, it means the equal status of that county within Croatia's territorial structure," Plenkovic said.

Text: Hina

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